Privacy and data protection
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News
04 Oct 2024
NCSC celebrates eight years as Horne blows in
Outgoing NCSC interim leader Felicity Oswald shares her thoughts on the body’s work over the past eight years as she hands over the reins to incoming CEO Richard Horne Continue Reading
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News
04 Oct 2024
Detective wrongly claimed journalist’s solicitor attempted to buy gun, surveillance tribunal hears
Darren Ellis, who led a surveillance operation against journalists who exposed police failures, wrongly accused a solicitor of attempting to buy arms Continue Reading
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News
14 Jul 2020
European court to decide legality of EU-US data sharing in dispute between Schrems and Facebook
A ruling by the European Court of Justice will have ramifications for hundreds of thousands of companies that share data with the US. The case aims to balance US surveillance laws with the rights of EU citizens to keep their data private Continue Reading
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Opinion
14 Jul 2020
Security Think Tank: AI in cyber needs complex cost/benefit analysis
AI and machine learning techniques are said to hold great promise in security, enabling organisations to operate a IT predictive security stance and automate reactive measures when needed. Is this perception accurate, or is the importance of automation being gravely overestimated? Continue Reading
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News
14 Jul 2020
‘Name-and-shame’ ransomware attacks increasing in prevalence
Since emerging at the tail-end of 2019, double extortion, or exfiltration and encryption, ransomware attacks have become highly popular, and now account for a significant number of incidents, according to Emsisoft research Continue Reading
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News
14 Jul 2020
Australian enterprises facing more cyber attacks
The volume of cyber attacks in Australia jumped from 90% in October 2019 and 81% in February 2019, underscoring the worsening threat landscape in the country Continue Reading
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Opinion
13 Jul 2020
Security Think Tank: Ignore AI overheads at your peril
Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are said to hold great promise in security, enabling organisations to operate an IT predictive security stance and automate reactive measures when needed. Is this perception accurate, or is the importance of automation being gravely overestimated? Continue Reading
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News
13 Jul 2020
Zoom zero-day a reminder to stop using Windows 7
Researchers have disclosed a newly discovered zero-day vulnerability to videoconferencing service Zoom, which only affects users of Windows 7 systems Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2020
HSBC customers targeted in new smishing scam
SMS phishing scam is targeting HSBC customers in the UK to trick them into handing over their bank account details Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2020
NHS trust uses case management software to deliver time savings
To deal with inefficient and unreliable processes, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Trust has implemented a case management system specifically designed for HR practitioners Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2020
Clearview AI faces ICO investigation over facial recognition
Controversial company that scraped data from the public internet to build its facial recognition algorithm faces a joint UK-Australian investigation into its practices Continue Reading
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Opinion
09 Jul 2020
The pandemic has made UK government rethink its relationship with data
Data has been essential to fighting the coronavirus outbreak, and the forthcoming National Data Strategy promises to place data at the heart of the UK's economic recovery Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2020
Most finance firms are multicloud, but many are unprepared for public cloud cyber attacks
Financial services firms are moving to the cloud at pace, but many are uncertain whether they could cope with an attack on an application based in the public cloud Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2020
More Joker malware apps chucked off Google Play Store
Infamous Joker billing fraud malware continues to sneak past Google’s security controls Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2020
Pubs and restaurants failing on cyber fraud protection
Virtually all of the UK’s most popular restaurant and pub brands are failing to proactively block fraudulent emails from reaching their targets Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2020
Tencent Cloud teams up with ADBC on banking services
Singapore’s Asia Digital Bank Corporation could leverage Tencent Cloud’s financial cloud platform to provide banking services to small businesses Continue Reading
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News
08 Jul 2020
Political awareness needed to ethically handle migration data, panel claims
Understanding the political, social and economic relationships between different groups in society is needed to ensure location data is not used in ways that further endanger already vulnerable people on the move Continue Reading
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News
08 Jul 2020
Use of spyware apps linked to domestic abuse soars in lockdown
The rise in domestic violence during the pandemic has been linked to increase use of stalkerware apps by abusers Continue Reading
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News
08 Jul 2020
Cosmic Lynx cyber crime group takes BEC to new heights
Newly identified Russian threat group targets large organisations with increasingly dangerous business email compromise attacks Continue Reading
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News
08 Jul 2020
Over 15 billion credentials for sale on dark web
Research by Digital Shadows reveals the scale of the security threat facing consumers as it uncovers 15 billion usernames and passwords stolen in more than 100,000 different data breaches Continue Reading
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News
08 Jul 2020
Security funding soars despite Covid-19 slump, but problems lie ahead
The overall cyber security funding ecosystem in the UK is healthier than ever despite Covid-19, but the figures mask stark and concerning disparities in where the money is going Continue Reading
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Opinion
08 Jul 2020
CCPA enforcement has begun: Here’s what to expect
The US’s California Consumer Privacy Act came into force in January this year, but enforcement against technology companies did not begin until this month Continue Reading
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Opinion
07 Jul 2020
Security Think Tank: Balancing human oversight with AI autonomy
Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are said to hold great promise in security, enabling organisations to operate an IT predictive security stance and automate reactive measures when needed. Is this perception accurate, or is the importance of automation gravely overestimated? Continue Reading
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News
07 Jul 2020
MSP Xchanging attacked in ransomware incident
Specialist managed services provider is restoring customer access to systems after an unspecified ransomware incident Continue Reading
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News
07 Jul 2020
Australian government foreshadows ‘sovereign data’ classification
The Australian government will examine if certain government datasets should be declared sovereign and only be hosted in the country Continue Reading
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07 Jul 2020
GDPR at two: How far we’ve come, how far we still have to go
Marking two years of the General Data Protection Regulation, industry voices weigh in on the state of data protection and privacy, consider what has changed, and what still needs to change. Continue Reading
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07 Jul 2020
Pub ‘check-in’ apps provoke fresh privacy concerns
With pubs and restaurants required to collect customer data for contact tracing when they reopen, data privacy risks will be heightened. Continue Reading
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E-Zine
07 Jul 2020
The privacy challenges of easing lockdown
In this week’s Computer Weekly, as pubs in the UK re-open after lockdown, we examine the privacy issues around collecting customer data for contact tracing. We look at how interconnected devices are revolutionising the manufacturing and engineering sectors. And we assess GDPR progress two years after its introduction. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
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News
06 Jul 2020
Lorca scale-ups bring diverse security to the fore
London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement announces the cyber security scale-ups that will make up its fifth cohort Continue Reading
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News
06 Jul 2020
North Korea behind spate of Magecart attacks
The Magecart credit card skimmer found on the website of retailer Claire’s Accessories was likely put there by the Lazarus or Hidden Cobra North Korean APT group, reports Sansec Continue Reading
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News
03 Jul 2020
Chinese law may require companies to disclose cyber-security preparations outside China
Companies with Chinese operations may have to disclose information about the security of their networks in other countries under China’s draft data security law Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2020
Cops take out encrypted comms to disrupt organised crime
The UK’s National Crime Agency, alongside other law enforcement agencies in France and the Netherlands, have busted illicit arms and drugs rings after disabling an encrypted comms platform Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2020
Locked-down teens flock to NCSC CyberFirst training scheme
A record number of 14 to 17-year-olds have signed up to the National Cyber Security Centre’s CyberFirst summer school Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2020
Police secrecy over ‘IMSI-catcher’ mass surveillance of mobile phones
Following a tribunal ruling, constabularies in England and Wales can refuse to confirm or deny whether they use mass surveillance devices, known as IMSI-catchers to monitor people’s location, phone calls and text messages Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2020
Sodinokibi gang begins dark web celebrity data auctions
Group claims to be auctioning confidential legal data on pop stars Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and basketball player LeBron James Continue Reading
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News
01 Jul 2020
UK’s unsung cyber security heroes sought
Nominations have opened for the fifth annual Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards Continue Reading
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News
01 Jul 2020
Zoom making progress on cyber security and privacy, says CEO
Three months after being hit by a spate of security incidents, Zoom’s CEO, Eric Yuan, has been discussing progress towards a more secure product Continue Reading
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News
01 Jul 2020
Remote workers more aware of security, but still flout the rules
Almost three-quarters of remote workers reckon they have gained in cyber security awareness during lockdown, but don’t seem to be especially bothered about keeping themselves safe Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Jul 2020
Black Lives Matter, but do bots know that?
The volume of content generated each day necessitates automated moderation to curate everything as it is published, ensuring offensive and objectionable material is blocked. But this only works if systems are adequately configured and reviewed Continue Reading
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News
01 Jul 2020
FakeSpy Android malware targets Royal Mail app users
The FakeSpy malware was first identified in October 2017 but is now significantly more powerful and dangerous Continue Reading
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E-Zine
30 Jun 2020
Unlocking value in the railway network’s data
In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how the rail industry is working to improve its use of data to deliver better services to passengers. Is flash the saviour of the storage universe? Our buyer’s guide assesses the choices for IT managers. And we examine the failure of the government’s Covid-19 contact-tracing app. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
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News
29 Jun 2020
Lawyers learn of fresh US allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from press reports
The US has filed an updated indictment against Julian Assange alleging that he conspired with hacking groups to obtain information for WikiLeaks. Defence and prosecution lawyers learned about it from press reports Continue Reading
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News
29 Jun 2020
Evil Corp’s latest ransomware project spreading fast
A new ransomware strain dubbed WastedLocker is spreading rapidly and targeting major corporations Continue Reading
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News
29 Jun 2020
Out of date security laws leave UK plc at risk during pandemic
The CyberUp coalition has written to Boris Johnson to urge him to reform the UK’s 30 year-old cyber crime laws Continue Reading
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News
29 Jun 2020
Airports deploy thermal cameras to control Covid-19, science suggests it’s merely ‘safety theatre’
UK airports are rolling out thermal surveillance cameras to identify people who may have coronavirus, but science says the technology is ineffective at detecting and preventing the spread of the disease Continue Reading
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News
25 Jun 2020
Pub ‘check-in’ apps provoke fresh privacy concerns
With pubs and restaurants required to collect customer data for contact tracing when they reopen, data privacy risks will be heightened Continue Reading
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News
25 Jun 2020
CBI: Digital economy needs joined-up regulations and gigabit broadband
The coronavirus pandemic has shown the need for fast, reliable networking across the UK. The CBI is urging the government to do more Continue Reading
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News
25 Jun 2020
Veeam bullish on growth in APAC
Veeam’s top executive in Asia-Pacific expects the company’s growth momentum in the region to continue despite the Covid-19 pandemic, and is setting sights on growth areas such as container backups Continue Reading
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News
24 Jun 2020
NCSC catches a million phishes in its nets
The NCSC has racked up a million suspicious email reports from the public just two months after launching a reporting service, but the lucky sender won’t be receiving a grand prize Continue Reading
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News
24 Jun 2020
EU judges GDPR an overall success, but changes still needed
Two years after its implementation, an EU report says that the GDPR is achieving what it set out to do, with a few reservations Continue Reading
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News
24 Jun 2020
Political parties harvest personal data to create profiles on voters, most of it wrong
The UK’s three main political parties are collecting personal data on voters, but much of it is wrong and its use may fall foul of data protection laws Continue Reading
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News
24 Jun 2020
Brits will sell their personal data for pennies
Surprising findings from an Okta report on digital identity suggest Brits would be willing to part with valuable personal data for a surprisingly low amount Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Jun 2020
APT groups’ mobile momentum finally faces resistance
State-backed APT groups are increasingly targeting mobile devices as Covid-19 puts the spotlight on remote working infrastructure security. We explore how the industry is fighting back Continue Reading
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News
23 Jun 2020
Neurodiversity on the rise among career hackers
More diverse hackers enhance the ability of both traditional and cutting-edge cyber security solutions to find and fix vulnerabilities, according to a new report from Bugcrowd Continue Reading
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News
23 Jun 2020
Twitter contacts business users over data exposure
Issue relates to how web browsers cached confidential data entered in Twitter’s ads and analytics services, but is unlikely to have resulted in compromise Continue Reading
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News
23 Jun 2020
Concern over digital risk falls dramatically during pandemic
Brits are understandably more worried about the NHS than personal cyber security Continue Reading
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News
21 Jun 2020
APAC still hotbed for cyber attacks
Individuals and organisations in APAC are encountering malware more frequently than the rest of the world, study finds Continue Reading
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News
19 Jun 2020
Eurostar to roll out facial recognition for ‘passport-free’ travel to Europe
Facial recognition will make passports on the Eurotunnel an option rather than a necessity, but privacy campaigners have questioned whether gathering biometric data on passengers is necessary Continue Reading
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News
19 Jun 2020
Australian prime minister confirms country is suffering repeated nation-state cyber attacks
Concern over critical national infrastructure as cyber attackers repeatedly try to gain access to network of organisations operating in multiple sectors Continue Reading
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News
19 Jun 2020
AI bias and privacy issues require more than clever tech
The new AI Barometer report from the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has assessed the threats and opportunities of artificial intelligence in the UK Continue Reading
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News
18 Jun 2020
US pulls out of talks with Europe for global digital tax
Despite the US’s resistance to an international digital services tax, the UK and other European countries plan to continue pushing for a global solution to taxing technology giants Continue Reading
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18 Jun 2020
How Australian firms can plug data protection gaps
Australian organisations can address data protection challenges by creating roles such as a data governance lead, classifying data and improving employee awareness of cyber hygiene. Continue Reading
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18 Jun 2020
APAC firms still coming to grips with data protection
More governments in Asia are implementing data protection regimes, but challenges such as checkbox compliance and the lack of effective staff training remain. Continue Reading
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E-Zine
18 Jun 2020
CW APAC: Trend Watch – data protection
Asia-Pacific organisations see the importance of having good data protection practices, even as they are still grappling with organisational and operational challenges. In this handbook, Computer Weekly looks at the different levels of preparedness across the region and what firms can do to plug any gaps. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jun 2020
Data protection watchdog calls for controls on police mobile phone stop-and-searches
Information commissioner wants new safeguards on the use of police powers to download sensitive personal data from the mobile phones of suspects and crime victims Continue Reading
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News
18 Jun 2020
Cisco patches dangerous Webex vulnerability
CVE-2020-3347 bug enables cyber criminals to steal meeting records from within Cisco’s Webex service Continue Reading
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News
18 Jun 2020
Zoom U-turns on end-to-end encryption
Embattled video-conferencing provider Zoom backtracks on previous refusals to provide end-to-end encryption to free users Continue Reading
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News
17 Jun 2020
Cosmetics company Avon offline after cyber attack
Representatives left unable to place orders after company’s back-end systems went offline over a week ago Continue Reading
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News
17 Jun 2020
Amnesty identifies most privacy-invasive Covid-19 contact-tracing apps
Bahrain’s ‘BeAware Bahrain’, Kuwait’s ‘Shlonik’ and Norway’s ‘Smittestopp’ are the most privacy-invasive contact-tracing apps, reveals Amnesty International study Continue Reading
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News
17 Jun 2020
Macquarie eyes government contracts with new Canberra datacentre
New Macquarie datacentre in the Australian capital designed to achieve Tier 4 datacentre standards will deliver 1.5MW of capacity by December 2020 Continue Reading
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News
16 Jun 2020
UK-US data deal puts Brexit data adequacy pact at risk
European Data Protection Board writes to MEPs saying the UK is at risk of failing to strike a post-Brexit data adequacy accord if its data protection agreements with the US don’t strike the right note Continue Reading
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News
16 Jun 2020
Activists call on Zoom to implement encryption for all
A coalition of tech organisations and nonprofits have urged Zoom CEO Eric Yuan to make end-to-end encryption available to all users Continue Reading
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News
16 Jun 2020
Norway’s contact-tracing app suspended over privacy concerns
Norway has been given until 23 June to justify the location tracking of citizens who download its contract-tracing app Continue Reading
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16 Jun 2020
The Security Interviews: Temper tantrums ahead as GDPR enters its terrible twos?
On the General Data Protection Regulation’s second birthday, Tim Hickman, a data protection lawyer and partner at White & Case LLP, discusses the regulation’s teething troubles and assesses how best to maintain optimum compliance. Continue Reading
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News
15 Jun 2020
Banking trojans roar back to prominence in May
Check Point sees an upswing in malicious activity around a number of classic banking trojan malware variants Continue Reading
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Opinion
15 Jun 2020
Why UK needs independent oversight body for contact-tracing app
The public needs and deserves clarity, and not just assurances, over the UK’s Covid-19 contact-tracing app Continue Reading
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News
15 Jun 2020
Accessories store Claire’s hit by Magecart credit card fraudsters
Attackers gained access to retailer’s website as long ago as March Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2020
Hospital uses thermal surveillance cameras to protect patients against second wave of Covid-19
A North Midlands NHS trust claims to be the first NHS trust to deploy thermal surveillance cameras to protect patients and staff against the coronavirus Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2020
NHS email service users ensnared in phishing attack
More than 100 accounts on the NHSmail service were affected by attack, but health service says no patient data was accessed Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2020
Fake contact-tracing apps delivering banking trojans
Spoof government coronavirus apps are popping up all over the world, says the Anomali Threat Research team Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2020
100,000 cheap wireless cameras vulnerable to hacking
Active devices built by Chinese firm HiChip have been sold in the UK as webcams and connected baby monitors Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2020
UN secretary general calls for global digital cooperation
Antonio Guterres launches roadmap for digital cooperation and calls for world leaders to come together to “connect, respect and protect people in the digital age” Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2020
Twitter kills thousands of misinformation accounts
The accounts were linked to the governments of China, Russia and Turkey, and engaged in systematic operations against pro-democracy activists, political opponents and dissidents Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2020
Coronavirus: Bungled British response leads to rise in security risks
Covid-19 cyber security threats are evolving over the course of the pandemic, becoming more targeted to virus hotspots such as the UK Continue Reading
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Opinion
11 Jun 2020
Security Think Tank: Container security starts with good DevOps practice
Adopting containers promises great organisational efficiency advantages, but the fast-evolving technology can be problematic for security teams. What do CISOs need to know to safeguard containers? Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2020
Decade-old vulnerability among 129 Patch Tuesday fixes
A 10 year-old bug in Windows Group Policies could easily enable attackers to gain highly privileged user status on target systems, opening the doors to a wave of cyber attacks Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2020
Unsecured Elasticsearch server breached in eight hours flat
Comparitech’s Bob Diachenko wanted to find out how long it would take for hackers to find and attack an unsecured, public internet-facing database, so he set up a honeypot Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2020
Virtual GP practice accidentally exposes patient video calls
A small number of users of Babylon’s GP at Hand service were briefly able to view other patients’ video GP consultations thanks to a bug in a new software feature Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Jun 2020
Coronavirus: How to go back to the office safely and securely
Security teams should be used to supporting remote workers effectively by now, but what’s going to happen when people start returning to their offices? We look at the risks and how to address them. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2020
Nasty surprises lurking in furloughed employees’ inboxes
Research conducted by KnowBe4 points to a looming email security problem as furloughed employees head back to work Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2020
How Australian firms can defend against supply chain attacks
Supply chain security risks can wreak havoc if measures are not taken to deter cyber attackers from exploiting a supplier’s security gaps to target another firm Continue Reading
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News
09 Jun 2020
Honda investigates suspected Snake ransomware attack
Attack disrupts global operations at carmaker, with assembly lines falling silent and sales suspended Continue Reading
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News
09 Jun 2020
Poorly-secured AWS buckets used to launch Magecart attacks
Cyber criminals are exploiting misconfigured AWS S3 buckets to run credit card fraud and malvertising campaigns, according to new data Continue Reading
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E-Zine
09 Jun 2020
How retailers are staying connected during their coronavirus shutdown
In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at how the hard-hit retail sector has turned to technology to stay connected with staff during the coronavirus lockdown. Our latest buyer’s guide examines best practice in data quality and how to avoid “garbage in garbage out” syndrome. And we look at how remote working affects software development teams. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
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News
05 Jun 2020
Police chiefs working with Public Health England on contact-tracing security
Police force representatives are in talks with Public Health England over operational security concerns arising from the NHS Test and Trace coronavirus contact-tracing scheme Continue Reading
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News
05 Jun 2020
Ministry of Defence forms new cyber security regiment
The 13th Signal Regiment brings together personnel from across the armed forces to provide specialist security services Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2020
Small businesses failing on remote worker protection
Only one-third of people working for small businesses have received any guidance from their employers on how to secure their remote working set-up Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2020
Data privacy groups pile in on UK contact-tracing app
UK-based digital privacy and free speech campaigning organisation files complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office about contact-tracing app Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2020
Black Lives Matter activists targeted by cyber attacks
Civil liberties organisations are being targeted by far-right trolls as protests over the murder of George Floyd spread worldwide Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2020
The Security Interviews: How the BSI protects the IoT from itself
David Mudd of the BSI reveals how a pragmatic and realistic approach to security vulnerabilities underpins its internet of things kitemark, helping give users the confidence to buy smart devices safely Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2020
Coronavirus: Cyber criminals target laid-off workers
Malicious actors are targeting workers laid-off or furloughed during the coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading
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Opinion
04 Jun 2020
Why trust is the new currency
Businesses need to engender trust with customers amid the complexity of digital transactions involving multiple third parties, even as consumers are not fully cognizant of the importance of data privacy Continue Reading